Home builder Ryland Group swings to loss
Home builder Ryland Group Inc. said Wednesday that it lost money in the first quarter because of the weakening housing market.
Calabasas-based Ryland reported a loss of $24.4 million, or 58 cents a share, contrasted with a profit of $90 million, or $1.86, a year earlier.
Facing a shortage of new-home buyers, the company moved to reduce its land inventory and it reported charges including one for $65.5 million to forfeit options to buy land and write down the value of lots and homes it owns.
Without those charges, Ryland said, it would have earned 70 cents a share. Analysts had expected the company to report a profit of about 48 cents a share excluding the charges, according to Bloomberg News.
Ryland announced results after the close of regular trading, during which its shares rose 10 cents to $45.80. Shares fell to $44.68 in the after-hours market.
The company said that it didn’t expect to achieve the annual earnings of $3.75 to $4.25 a share it predicted in January and that it wouldn’t offer a new forecast “as a result of the uncertainty of current market conditions.”
Revenue was down 34.3% to $706.4 million as home sale closings dropped 35.2% to 2,302 homes. The average sale price rose to $298,000 from $295,000. New orders were off 25.7% to 2,989 and their value slipped 26.2% to $872.6 million.
Ryland said earlier this month that it expected a first-quarter loss because of expenses to reduce the value of developments in Florida, Phoenix, Southern California and Washington, D.C.
Also Wednesday, Pulte Homes Inc. of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., said it lost $85.7 million during the first quarter amid slumping closings on new homes and a massive inventory, the Associated Press reported.
The loss amounted to 33 cents a share. A year earlier Pulte had net income of $262.6 million, or $1.01 a share. The company’s consolidated revenue of $1.9 billion in the most recent quarter declined 37% from $3 billion a year earlier.
Pulte announced the results after the close of regular trading. Its shares had gained 8 cents to $27.90. They were little changed after the bell.
